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Multinational technology firm IBM is among the sponsors of a forthcoming India-based hackathon set to focus on bitcoin, the blockchain and FinTech.

Called HackCoin, the two-day event is scheduled for 1st and 2nd August at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Presented by Zone Startups and local bitcoin advocacy firm Bitstreet, the event will engage participants on themes including Big Data, payments and the digital experience.

The aim, according to event press materials, is to introduce more developers to the bitcoin and wider blockchain ecosystem, as well as the available APIs from major providers.

Investments into FinTech startups recently quadrupled, growing from just over $3 billion in 2013 to over $12 billion in 2014. And consider alongside that another trend showing that crowdfunding will surpass VC in 2016 as a funding source–given that crowdfunding itself is a segment of the FinTech market.

Especially now, with major investors like CalPERS needing to trim their billion-dollar lineups of Wall Street fund managers.

There is one startup out to change the pecking order on Wall Street that could dramatically change this process. AltX has been creating in-depth profiles that investors like CalPERS could really use as it is forced to whittle down its massive list of hedge fund pros. Next, it will take its analytics to mutual funds.

Square Inc., the mobile-payments company founded and led by Jack Dorsey, the interim chief executive officer of Twitter Inc., filed confidentially for an initial public offering, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Square has been working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. on the IPO, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private.

The bank’s principal strategic investments group has participated in a $5 million funding round in DataFox, alongside other investors including fintech-focused venture capital firm Green Visor Capital, according to Bastiaan Janmaat, co-founder of DataFox and a former investment analyst at Goldman Sachs.

Clarity has been hired for an initial three-month campaign, to be followed by an ongoing retainer.

Fidor, which launched in Germany in 2009, has an online community where its users can discuss the financial services it provides in an open forum and gives out cash rewards for people's social interactions and contributions. Fidor also offers customers a wider selection of banking options including crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending.

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As global banks are increasingly experimenting with the blockchain to search for possible use-cases that they can implement in its existing banking systems, CoinTelegraph has compiled a list of some of the most notable banking giants experimenting with Bitcoin’s underlying technology.

With more than $800m so far invested in bitcoin and blockchain technology startups since 2012, it's safe to say that venture capitalists are certainly captivated.

Investments in the industry have already exceeded the cumulative total for 2014, with more than $380m pledged to startups in publicly announced funding rounds this year.

While an impressive figure on its own, what that number doesn't successfully convey is how many seed to late-stage firms are making bets on the new wave of innovators aiming to take bitcoin and blockchain technology forward.

To Marc Andreessen’s famous statement, “software is eating the world,” Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, added “and financial services are no exception”. The speed of technology and market changes are forcing financial services to adapt faster and more efficiently than ever before.

Matthias Kroener, CEO of Fidor Bank addresses the growing need for banks to rebuild trust following recent scandals and bailouts, and to take advantage of technology to support the new digital lifestyle of their customers.